


Thanks, Pavlov

by creepstone



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: #satzu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:08:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25607890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creepstone/pseuds/creepstone
Summary: all Sana wants is for Tzuyu to acknowledge her presence, so she sought the help of kkwabaegi
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Minatozaki Sana
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	Thanks, Pavlov

It was lunch time and the whole cafeteria is crowded. Jihyo tried her best to slide between her schoolmates until she arrived at their usual table where she found a sulking Sana munching a Twix chocolate.

“What’s wrong?” she asked while placing down her books. Nayeon handed her a paper bag of food to which she mouthed thanks.

“It’s second semester already and Tzuyu still hasn’t even bat an eye on her,” Momo answered half-heartedly, focusing on her ramen. Sana just rolled her eyes on her.

“She wouldn’t especially if she already has someone,” Nayeon added, “I heard, her and Elkie are together.”

“Who’s Elkie?”

“Elkie Chong, the representative of the College of Science in last year’s pageant,” Mina tried to refresh their memory, “Ms. Pharmacy 2019! She slipped while dancing but then act as if it’s part of the choreography. Still doesn’t ring a bell?”

“AH!” the three girls finally remembered.

“But I don’t think they are together,” the focus of the group is still on the Japanese girl, “Dahyun told me Tzuyu is single.”

“And why would you be talking to Dahyun?”

“Why are you asking whether Tzuyu is single?”

Both Momo and Sana asked her with a condescending and accusing tone. The youngest of them just rolled her eyes.

  
“What should I do now?” Sana asked, hope has already left her system.

“You know, we had this lesson in one of my major classes—”

“Not interested!” Both Nayeon and Momo exclaimed. They both hate nerdy Jihyo, and when they laughed, both got hit as well.

“As I was saying, this lesson is about Pavlov,” she looked at the girls before continuing, “basically, Pavlov sort of formulated this theory on how conditioning affects the behavior of people and animals.”

“Wait, is he the one with the bell?” Mina asked.

“Yes. So basically, he is trying to prove that the dog would salivate in response to the food in front of them. However, he started to notice that the dog would start salivating just by hearing the foot steps of the one who gives them food.”

“And then?”

“So he formulated a theory where in the food serves as the unconditioned stimulus which originally produces the natural or reflexive response.”

“Oh my God, speak English!”

“And can you go direct to the point already????” Momo and Nayeon once again whined. And for the nth time now, Jihyo rolled her eyes.

“So what happened in the experiment now is that, every time Pavlov will ring the bell, he made it sure to give food to the dog. He did it for days, that the dog has accustomed to it. So whenever he rings the bell, the dog expects him to give him food.”

“How does that help me?” Sana asked impatiently.

“Simple, do the experiment to Tzuyu.”

“I ring a bell?” Both Jihyo and Mina facepalmed themselves.

“I’ll say this once and never again so listen carefully,” Mina uttered, “you will do something for Tzuyu until she gets used to it. From there, you can make a move.”

Mina stood up and gathered her things. She and Jihyo have a class in 10 minutes so they had to leave earlier. They gave Sana the last glance, both with warning her and sending good luck. Sana only sighed.

“Any other ideas?” she turned to her other friends.

“Theirs is quite exciting, don’t you think?”  
  
  
  


One of the ways to pull a Pavlov, Sana discovered, is to keep giving sweets to the person you like. Nayeon insisted that Jihyo and Mina’s idea is worth a try. That is how they find themselves in the school library at 2 in the afternoon. They did not attend their Research class and did their own research in the library.

“Do you know what sweets Tzuyu like?” Nayeon whispered to Sana as she continued reading the reddit post on how the OP successfully Pavloved his crush.

“She doesn’t like sweets,” Sana answered, “she likes bread though.”

“Bread?” Sana nodded. “What is she, a goat?”

“Nayeon, goats eat grass.”

“Whatever,” Nayeon rolled her eyes after reading the post. She sat back properly then focused on Sana. “What bread does she like?”

“According to Dahyun,” Sana started scrolling her message thread with Dahyun to recall Tzuyu’s favorite bread, “anything she can chew for a long time.”

“Give her a gum then,” Nayeon high-fived Momo after her brilliant jibe. Sana just rolled her eyes and abruptly stood up from her seat after her phone chimed.

“Why?”

“Dahyun said she likes kkwabaegi, and Tzuyu is really craving that now. Do you know where I can buy?”

“Ahjumma in front of the samgyeopsal restaurant we ate at last week sells kkwabaegi. Come on, we are coming with you.”

The trio went out of the campus and bought twisted doughnuts for Tzuyu (and Momo since the girl suddenly becomes hungry.) They proceeded to the botanical garden afterwards, where Tzuyu and her friends usually hang out.

“Ya, Nabongs, what are you doing here?” Nayeon and Jeongyeon has always been hostile to each other. They met in high school, where they _accidentally_ kissed each other after their school’s star player hit the game winning shot during the championship game. Ever since then, all they do is bicker.

“I am not here for you, Janggo, never was,” she said. They were approaching the group when Nayeon spotted her favorite snack on Jeongyeon’s hand. The blonde saw Nayeon’s eyes were directed to her food, so she extended them and offered to Nayeon. They sat beside each other sharing the food while still bickering.

Chaeyoung, Dahyun and Tzuyu smiled at Jeongyeon. This sight is no longer new to them since Jeongyeon has been offering her food to Nayeon since last month. When she felt the stares of her friends, Jeongyeon subtly threw them her middle finger. The three girls laughed. 

“Hi,” Sana stood in front of them and showed them the plastic she is holding, “there was an ahjumma who sells this, and we thought you might like it.”

“What is this?” Chaeyoung inquired as she got the plastic from Sana’s grip. “Tzuyu, doughnuts!” she exclaimed.

The usually calm Tzuyu surprised everyone when she hurriedly snatched the plastic from Chaeyoung. She immediately took out the doughnut (despite being hot) and took a bite.

“Hmmm,” Tzuyu hummed as she chews the bread. Her eyes are closed savoring the food.

“Why do people always close their eyes when they taste something tasty?” Jeongyeon whispered to Nayeon.

“You mean like when you two closed your eyes when you guys kissed in high school?” Chaeyoung teased that made their friends laugh. Jeongyeon choked on her food so she took Nayeon’s tumbler and drink from it.

“You know, this is why you’re never getting any taller, Son Chaeyoung,” Nayeon tried to hide her blush. Despite the remark, she and Jeongyeon did not move a single inch away from each other.

“Thank you, Sana,” Tzuyu smiled at the girl sincerely. "Here," she handed her a Twix chocolate she found in her bag, "you can eat them now since it's starting to melt."

“Where are we going again?” Jihyo asked as she and Mina is being dragged by Sana.

“We’re buying doughnuts,”

“Again?!” Jihyo asked exasperatedly. “You’ve been buying her doughnuts since Tuesday. It’s Friday now Sana. Don’t you think she no longer craves it?”

“As of yesterday, she still accepts the doughnuts, so shut your mouth Park,” the Japanese answered agitated.

“You gave her the idea, you suffer,” Nayeon snickered from behind.

“How is it going with Tzuyu?” Mina asked once they reached the doughnut store. Sana ordered the usual that ahjumma no longer needs to ask.

“Well, we are talking now, because of the doughnuts.”

“Have you asked her if she’s single?” Jihyo followed up.

“Why?” They are starting to go back to the campus. Nayeon told them that the others are in the botanical garden as usual.

Mina subtly pinched jihyo’s back. They agreed not to tell Sana unless they are certain of what they saw. The night before, Mina and Jihyo went out for dinner. They were craving Chinese so they made a reservation on the Chinese restaurant 15-minutes away from their campus. As they alighted their cab, they saw Tzuyu and Elkie entering the same restaurant. Jihyo had the guts to ask the staff where the two were seated but according the staff, they reserved a private room on the second floor of the restaurant.

“Nothing, just don’t mind Jihyo. You know she’s so sick of you wooing Tzuyu,” Mina lied. They reached the botanical garden in no time where they saw the four girls playing cards.

When Jeongyeon saw them, she immediately took out the Lays chips she’s been hiding from the girls and opened it. Chaeyoung saw what she did and immediately followed the woman’s gaze.

“Jeongyeon, you’re getting obvious you know?” she teased. Jeongyeon just feigned ignorance and took some chips from the bag.

“Oh my God, Lays!” Nayeon said full of exaggeration. She jogged beside Jeongyeon and asked for some. When Tzuyu saw Nayeon, she immediately turned her attention in finding Sana. As expected, the Japanese has her doughnuts ready for her.

“Ah, to have a doughnut supplier in the form of Minatozaki Sana. I must have done something good in my past life,” Tzuyu teased as she moved a little to the left to give space for Sana. She taps the space beside her inviting Sana to sit. Who is Sana to decline such offer?

"By the way, do you guys want this?" Chaeyoung offered the other girls Twix chocolates, "Tzuyu brought this for us but I heard, when you share your chocolates to others, they reserve you a seat in heaven, so yeah."

The girls stayed with the group for a couple more minutes. Mina, Jihyo and Dahyun were discussing the lesson they had earlier that day. Them three shared several classes together. The other half of the group continued playing with cards. Jeongyeon invited them to play the game she invented. 

“So, this deck is in shuffle right? I will count 1 to King, while simultaneously putting down a card. If the number matches with the card that I just put down, we will race to put down our hands in the middle. Whoever is on top will get all the cards below. The player with the highest number of cards in their possession, loses the game. Understood?”

“If you want to hold Nayeon’s hand, all you need to do is ask,” Chaeyoung appeared to have found her purpose in life—to tease and make NaJeong blush.

“Smurf, shut up,” was all Nayeon could say. Everyone saw the blush that rose in both girls’ cheeks.

They started playing Jeongyeon’s game. The thing is, Sana never had a game gene in her body. Whatever type of game it is, she will always lose. The competitive side of Nayeon and Jeongyeon is coming out. Sometimes, Nayeon’s hand will be on top of Jeongyeon or vice versa. Whoever is on top, Chaeyoung and the others observed the sneaky squeeze they give to each other. The former decided to let it pass for now.

While Nayeon is obviously blushing whenever her and Jeongyeon’s hands are on top of each other, the same cannot be said about Sana. Yes, the girl is blushing but because of fury. They are through with the first deck and she lost miserably. To top it off, she never got to touch Tzuyu’s hands. She didn’t know Tzuyu is competitive.

Tzuyu saw how Sana is struggling. She smiled seeing the scrunched face of the girl. So, on the second round, she decided to lose.

“4...5...6!” Jeongyeon dropped the 6 of hearts card. They all hurriedly put their hands down but not Tzuyu. Once Sana’s hand is on top of the pile, as usual, she then slowly placed hers on top of Sana’s. She smiled to herself seeing Sana blush.

“Sorry, I got distracted,” she played out. Before she removed her hand, she also made a little squeeze on Sana’s hand. The little squeeze, however, is not very subtle. And Chaeyoung, right there and then, found another target.

“Ah, of course. Who else to take after Jeongyeon but Tzuyu herself,” Chaeyoung started, “a 4-day supply of ahjumma’s doughnuts and you already gave your virginity to Sana.”

“Chaeyoung, you kiss your girl with that mouth?!” The shortest received a slap on the head from Jeongyeon. While Sana is blushing hard, Tzuyu _unknowingly_ put out the fire growing on Sana’s cheeks (and heart).

“Who told you I’m still a virgin?” Tzuyu teased back. Everyone’s mouth dropped on the floor. No one was able to say a single word. Everyone’s stares are moving back and forth from Tzuyu to Sana.

Another slap on the head was received by Chaeyoung. However, this time it is from Nayeon. Sana will always be thankful to Nayeon on how she helps her get out of situations like that.

“Let’s play a different game, this is getting boring already,” Jeongyeon said. Sana excused herself and approached Mina and Jihyo.

“She must be joking,” Dahyun said softly. Sana just smiled at the girl.

“Tzuyu!” for the second time in the last 5 minutes, the girls were rendered speechless. Standing 5 meters away from them is Elkie Chong, Tzuyu’s whatever you want to call it.

_“Are you and Elkie dating?” Chaeyoung asked one afternoon. The tall girl has been sharing them the trip she had with Elkie the past weekend. Tzuyu just shrugged._

_“So, she’s your girlfriend then?”_

_“Whatever you want call it.”_

“Is your class over now?” Tzuyu stood from where she was seated and walked to Elkie after she took a glance at her watch, “doesn’t your class start at 5?”

“I still got 10 minutes, don’t worry,” the girl smiled, “just dropping by to remind you of our reservation later.”

“Yep, I already have an alarm for that,” Tzuyu jokingly shoved her phone near Elkie’s face. “I’ll pick you up after your class.”

“Sure,” Elkie hugged the taller girl and whispered something to her. Tzuyu laughed at whatever Elkie has said. She kissed her forehead before bidding goodbye.

“See you later!”

“See you! Love you!”

“Love you too!”

*

Tzuyu and the gang spent the Saturday hanging out in Tzuyu’s house. Her brother recently bought the new version of Playstation and gave the girls permission to play with it.

“Tzu,” Dahyun called the girl who just entered the gaming room, with snacks and drinks on hand.

“Yes?”

“Are you and Elkie—”

“What do you want to hear?” she asked, she laid the food on the table in front of the couch and sat beside her friends, “you have been asking me that and I told you, she is whatever you want her to be.”

“I mean, the question we always ask you as answerable by yes or no so that should be easy,” Jeongyeon fired back. Tzuyu just sighed as she slumped beside Chaeyoung.

“No, Elkie and I are not together, at least not anymore.” Jeongyeon paused the game much to Chaeyoung’s dismay.

“What do you mean?” Dahyun inquired as she open another box of Twix from the plate that Tzuyu brought.

“We used to date but it just doesn’t feel right. So we decided to just stay friends,” she explained.

“Do friends do that? Go out on dates, say I love you to each other—”

“Elkie and I were bestfriends first before anything else. So it was normal for us to go out together. And everytime we go out, it's not just the to of us. Our other friends join us as well.”

“So are you still vir—”

“Yes, Chaeyoung. I am. I was just joking yesterday, why did you have to take that seriously?”

The four continued playing until late afternoon. At around 4, they decided to take a nap. They were lying down on Tzuyu’s bed when Chaeyoung saw a glimpse of Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s conversation.

“Jeong, I can’t believe it took you almost 5 years to ask Nayeon out on a date,” Jeongyeon abruptly hid her phone from Chaeyoung and started to wrestle the small girl.

“Chaeyoung, I swear to god, the next time you read my conversation with Nayeon, I will kill you.”

“Chill!” she said as she tries to push Jeongyeon off her. Luckily, the blonde got off her as she heard her phone chimed. Chaeyoung just rolled her eyes.

“I can’t believe you Pavloved Nayeon,” Dahyun said, “Either it was successful or Nayeon just had a secret crush on you. Either way, great job, Jeongyeon!”

“All thanks to Tzuyu,” she said while her attention is still on her phone. “It was her idea.”

“Which is your idea?” Chaeyoung asked. Tzuyu raised her head from her phone. She has been idly scrolling her Instagram feed waiting for an update from someone.

“Huh?”

“Was it your idea for Jeong to ask Nayeon out?” Dahyun repeated the question. Tzuyu shook her head no.

“I gave her the idea of conditioning Nayeon.”

“It was your idea?!” both Dahyun and Chaeyoung asked.

“Yeah,” Tzuyu confirmed, “I mean, Nayeon obviously has a crush on Jeongyeon. She just had to act on it with a little help from Jeongyeon.”

“Wait, do you also know that Sana is pulling the same trick on you?” Chaeyoung spilled, “I mean, who buys doughnuts on four consecutive days?”

“Cute right?” Dahyun and Chaeyoung were both dumbfounded with Tzuyu’s reaction. The girl is smiling from ear to ear while recalling the past days. “It was so obvious but how can I resist her?”

“Oh Chou Tzuyu,” Dahyun scoffed at her friend while shaking her head. “You got it bad.”

“To be honest, there is no need for her to do that,” The smile never left Tzuyu’s face that day.

Tzuyu, like any other person in the world, dreaded Monday. However, thinking about the possibility of seeing Sana later in the afternoon is enough to put a smile on Tzuyu’s face. The day progressed and Tzuyu is beyond excited. She couldn’t keep her eyes away from the entrance of the botanical garden where they are hanging out again. However, minutes turned hours. The sun is already setting and there was nothing from Sana, not even a glimpse of her shadow. Tzuyu found another reason to hate Monday.

Tuesday and Wednesday passed without a trace of Sana. Tzuyu has stalked her already—on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. She turned on her notification on every SNS but they did not chimed for the past two days. 

A little birdy, hiding behind the name Im Nayeon, told Jeongyeon that the Japanese is indeed avoiding Tzuyu.

“Why is she avoiding Tzu?” Jeongyeon asked while they are walking on their way home.

“Tzuyu has Elkie. Isn’t that the right thing to do?” Nayeon looped her arm around Jeongyeon’s as they wait for the signal of the traffic light on the intersection.

“Except that Tzuyu and Elkie are just friends,” Jeongyeon clarified.

“Well not from what Sana saw. You saw it too, babe.” And since she owes Tzuyu something, Jeongyeon had no other choice but to tell Tzuyu what happened.

Friday came again. Another day of avoiding Chou Tzuyu. Sana went to her locker only to find her favorite chocolate taped on her locker door.

“Who’s that from?” Mina asked the taller.

“I don’t know.”

“Whoelse knew you like Twix?” Mina followed up.

“You like Twix?!” Momo was surprised to know that her bestfriend changed its favorite chocolate without informing her. “Isn’t Ferrero your favorite?”

“It was,” Sana nodded. “I just changed last year.”

“Eh?”

“Remember last year? We had this lab class in Chemistry and everytime I checked my drawer, there is Twix in there and a little note that says _Here’s a treat for a hardworking student like you.”_

“You ate those?! I thought you threw them away?”

“I threw them at first,” she explained to her bestfriend, “but one time when I was doing this experiment, I got really hungry so I ate them. Since then, I just eat the chocolates in my desk.”

“You’re lucky professor Lee Sooman didn’t catch you or else—”

“You have a class with Lee Sooman?” Dahyun popped out of nowhere. Tailing her where the Tzuyu, Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon immediately went to Nayeon’s side and started their whispering session.

Tzuyu tried to catch Sana’s gaze but Sana avoided her to the best that she can.

“Nope, we are done with him. We took his subject last year,” Nayeon explained.

“Same! That man is such a pain in the ass,” Chaeyoung added.

“Ah really? What time is your schedule?” Mina aksked.

“We took the 11-2 classes with him every Tuesday and Thursday, why?” Jeongyeon answered.

“Oh! We were the next class after you!” Momo exclaimed. “Do you remember who sat at the back of the room?”

“It was us! We occupied the back seats to either sleep or eat,” Chaeyoung laughed at her recollection. “By the way, do you know anyone from that class who goes home with a piece of Twix in hand?”

“Chaeyoung,” Tzuyu warned.

“Tzuyu kept on buying Twix and writing little notes on it back then. She’d placed them inside her drawer in hopes that the person sat there would receive it.”

“Yeah Tzuyu,” Jeongyeon added, “did you give them randomly or do you already know who is sat there?”

Sana and her friends turned their heads to look at Tzuyu who has now taken an interest on her shoes.

“I—”

“It was you?” Sana asked. Tzuyu nodded. “Was that for me or for anyone seated there?”

“It was for you,” Tzuyu admitted, not leaving her gaze on Sana. “I made sure you take that spot by putting that little pink hamster doll on the seat.” Sana covered her mouth in shock. The little hamster plushie is now hanging on the zipper of her bag.

“That is how you pull a Pavlov,” she said as she took steps towards Sana, “the conditioning starts using the right tools. In our case, Twix.” She smiled. “I made the next steps from scratch though, so all credit is on me.”

“What next steps?” Sana asked.

“Hmm, let's see, " Tzuyu scratched her chin as if thinking, "every time you take that Twix out of the drawer, I made sure to pass by the chemistry lab so you can see me. In that way, you can associate me with Twix," Sana nodded remembering how she always get reminded of Tzuyu when eating Twix. "Then everytime you give me kkwabaegi, I make sure you also get Twix in return, just to refresh your memory of my association with the chocolate."

"I am also always near you but I seem far. There is always a chance for us to be close, but the distance between us makes it unrealistic. That’s how the longing starts. And longing is one of the toughest enemies to defeat. I believe in no time, you will act upon it, and I was not mistaken,” she smiled at Sana. “You tried to pull a Pavlov on me, the one who has been doing it to you for the past year.”

Their friends, all oblivious to the stunt Tzuyu pulled, are all smiling at the scene unfolding in front of their eyes.

“Are you free tonight?” Tzuyu no longer beat around the bush, “I know this great Italian restaurant couple of minutes away from here. You might want to try it out.”

Sana couldn't wipe off the smile plastered on her face for the past 10 minutes now. She thought the sweetest thing in the world is a bar of chocolate. But seeing Tzuyu smile at her like that, she would rather die of diabetes right then and there. She couldn't think straight. If this is what heaven feels like, she thought, then she's never going to do anything bad, ever again in her life.

“You’re lucky I’m craving pizza today.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm never good at writing fluff, that this almost turned into angst. :( sorry if it did not meet your expectations :( a little present to satzu stans who keep on voting in choeaedol.


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